


His Favorite Topic

by fus_ro_david



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Adultery, Character Death, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-10
Updated: 2014-10-10
Packaged: 2018-02-20 16:12:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2435021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fus_ro_david/pseuds/fus_ro_david
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Crown Prince Zhen has one last question to ask his father before he's gone. One Shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	His Favorite Topic

**Author's Note:**

> So I realized I never published this outside of FF.net so I'm gonna. I'm super proud of this thing. I edited it a bit because it's been a long time since I wrote this and I wanted to add certain things and change certain names, so yeah. Enjoy!

As he lay on his bed, his body wrinkled and rusty and his years of adolescence long gone, Fire Lord Zuko felt the last minutes of his life tick by. Old age had hit him hard, and apparently that was hereditary. Along with that old age had also come the eternal forgetfulness that made Zuko unfit to remain on the throne. His youngest son, Zhen, was the one he had chosen to become Fire Lord. Or at least that's how he remembered it. Zuko knew that two of his children turned down the opportunity to become the heir or heiress apparent to the throne. Zhen had had no choice.

Zuko felt a soft hand wrap around his. His eyes went to the stranger's face. To the old man's surprise, the man in his room was no stranger at all. It was his youngest son, Zhen; the one who was going to take the throne as soon as he died. Zuko smiled at his son and squeezed his hand tight. In his eyes, Zhen was still a three year old boy, asking all kinds of questions about all kinds of topics, and most times Zuko found himself at a loss. How could a child be so curious and hungry for knowledge, yet it made him endlessly happy to search for answers together with his son. It was such a warming feeling to have someone familiar with him, and someone to talk to before he left the human world. At 95 years old, Zuko was lucky to still have someone that loved him. With the little breath he had left, Zuko spoke to his son.

"Why are you so afflicted, boy?" Zuko asked, mimicking the empathy and love his Uncle once had towards him. "What can this old man do for you?" Zhen chuckled at his father's comment and turned to stare at the dying Fire Lord. Zuko knew that his son's face reminded him of someone he used to love a long time ago, but he couldn't quite pinpoint whom. The black hair, the kind smile and the soft eyes, they were all too familiar.

"Dad, it's the third time you've greeted me tonight."

The shock on Zuko's face was so genuine Zhen felt the sudden urge laugh at it. The Prince felt bad, of course, for laughing at his father's delirious talk, but he couldn't help himself anymore. A 50 year old man also had the right to laugh, didn't he? To Zhen's surprise, Fire Lord Zuko joined his son in laughter, which only fueled the light mood in the room despite the fact that, outside, everyone was making the proper arrangements for the Royal Funeral.

"You know what this reminds me of?" Zuko began. "That time time your Uncle Aang and I got lost camping in the foreast near Caldera. What a man! He's so eager to laugh and so full of joy. And that used to bother me but now... Now I miss it. I hate when he's gone. But in the forest, well, we could hear the roar of a boar-q-pine! Obviously, we did not know what to do, we didn't even know those existed in the Fire Nation. Actually, is he here? Could you call him in here? He tells the story way better than I—"

"Dad, he's dead." Zhen didn't even blink. It would not be the first time he'd be telling his father that everyone he knew was dead, or at least most of them. After Aang, Zuko would ask about Sokka, Zhen would answer he's dead; then Zuko would ask about Suki, and Zhen would answer she was dead; then Zuko would ask about Toph, Zhen would answer she was around, waiting for the news of his death to reach her.

"… What… What about your mother?"

And Zhen would nod his head solemnly as his father's eyes swelled with tears. The Prince could not count the times his father had cried about his mother, but the tears were twice as much upon hearing the news of Katara's death. For a while, a very short while, the man had been ignorant of this fact; of why his Aunt Katara's death meant more to his father than the one of his wife. Now he knew. Zhen had been brave enough to ask once, and that question had led to a series of conversations that cleared many of Zhen's childhood doubts.

"And just in case," he continued. "Aunt Katara is dead, too."

And just as he had predicted, Zuko's face became that of a man with a broken heart. But this time, he didn't cry. Perhaps, subconsciously, Lord Zuko had become all too familiar with the questioning process. After all, almost everyone else was dead, so he should not be that surprised that his love was gone as well.

His love. Zhen still could not believe those words, even when they had haunted his mind for so long. And still he wondered how many secrets had the Fire Lord had apart from that affair? Zhen considered, rather wisely, that now would be the best time to answer those questions once and for all.

"Dad, can I ask you something?"

"About what?"

"Aunt Katara."

"Oh, I love talking about her."

"You do?"

Zuko nodded. "She's my favorite topic."

Zhen looked at the ground, angered by his father's comment. He had loved his aunt Katara, yes. But obviously not more than he had loved his mother. And to think that the family he once thought to be perfect was a lie because of another woman… He simply didn't know what to think. Zhen wished his mother was alive so that he could tell her. Chances were that Iroh, his older brother, would stop him from doing so, as he always took their father's side.

Now that he thought of it, Zhen was pretty sure that Iroh, and even his sister Akira, had known about that affair. Then again, judging his thoughts, Zhen could tell why none of them told him about it. Still holding his son's hand, Zuko raised them both in order to call for Zhen's attention. The Crown Prince lifted his head to look at his father, but the pain in Zuko's face had no words. It was the first time Zhen saw him that way. So sad and… Well, pathetic. However, Zhen could tell he didn't have much time left, so he decided to ask what he was about to ask in the first place.

"Dad, how long have you loved Aunt Katara?"

Zuko's gaze turned to the ceiling, completely lost amongst the cataracts that clouded his eyes. A smile crept up the old man's silky face, making the wrinkles look even deeper around his lips. With the other hand, Zuko covered this hand's son completely, without looking at him in the face.

"Son… I still love her." Zuko was the one chuckling alone. Zhen shook his head, disappointed in the answer. So, his father's love for his mistress managed to transcend, but his love for Zhen's mother had died with her. "Zhen, why are you so troubled, child?"

"I'm not a child anymore, Dad, I'm 50."

"Well, you're still a child."

Zhen sighed. "Why?"

Zuko's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to understand the meaning behind his son's question. It didn't take him too long, though. His intelligence and perception was something the years were not able to take away from him, not completely at least. "My mother… Mom was a great woman. She loved you, she loved us, she… She was everything you could ask for and need. Why would you do that to her?"

"… It's not as simple as it sounds—"

"Yes, it is, Dad. If you had trouble, you could've talked. Why did you have to turn to another woman? Your best friend's wife... Did he... Did he know? Did anyone else know about this? It's just... It's baffling. Mom was unhappy and miserable the last years of her life because of you and her." Zuko turned his face away from Zhen and closed his eyes, swallowing the tears that threatened to fall. Quickly enough, Zhen regretted his words. This wasn't the way to spend the last few minutes of his father's life.

"I'm sorry," Zuko whispered, breaking the silence. "Could you please hand me that box, over there, close to the mirror?" A bony finger pointed at a small, wooden box lying on the table located on the other side of the room. Zhen let go of his father's hand and stood up to take it. As soon as the box was in his hands, Zuko asked his son to give it to him.

"This…" Zuko said as he took out the light blue necklace out of the box. The pendant glittered with the dim light of the candles. "This is the last reminder I have of her. She gave it to me before she left with Aang to never return. She couldn't do it anymore, and I couldn't do it anymore… Because we loved them. She loved Aang and I loved Mai. And we couldn't do it anymore. We had to stop before it got any worse than it already was."

Zhen stared at the familiar necklace with cold eyes. He didn't care anymore about his father's affair. He couldn't take it anymore. As morbidly fascinating as it was to hear about this, Zhen still couldn't get over the fact that all those fights between his father and his mother were because of a third person in the relationship. All that hatred the Fire Lady had towards Aunt Katara was justified, and as a child, Zhen could not see anything detestable about his adorable waterbending aunt.

The Prince took his father's hand again. The old Fire Lord's pulse was slowing down by the minute. The time was coming, and Zhen knew it would be best to stop re-opening more scars in the old man. This was the sort of pain that ate you from the inside until there was nothing left to show. Zhen knew that. The Fire Lord clutched the necklace with his free hand and placed the fist on his chest. With eyes locked on the ceiling once again, Zuko mumbled a name that sounded awfully familiar in Zhen's ears.

He decided that it would be better if the conversation took its previous pace. "Let's talk about my mom, yes?"

"Oh, I love talking about your mother."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yes. She's my favorite topic."


End file.
